Frozen Whole Chicken in Crockpot

Frozen whole chicken in Crockpot instructions are here! Cooking a whole frozen chicken in a slow cooker with potatoes is not only possible but tender too. Give it a try for an easy cheap dinner this week.

Slow Cooker Frozen Whole Chicken

We tested and shared how to make Crockpot frozen chicken a while back. That used breasts right out of the bag and perfect when you’re craving shredded chicken for tacos some night.

For years I made whole chicken Crockpot recipe, defrosted, and it came out so very moist. Now it was time to cook a whole frozen chicken in a Crockpot. I wasn’t quite sure it would really work. Figured I might have to try it a few times to get it right, or maybe it would be a total failure…but it wasn’t.

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking shall we?? First off I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each one has an occasion to be used like….

1. This is my favorite 6 quart programmable one with a locking lid so it’s great for bringing to a potluck too.
2. I prefer not to use liners, but rather just spray olive oil inside before adding my food for easier cleanups.

Let me give you a peek of my pretty thang I bought recently. It goes with my kitchen so I can just leave it out on the countertop all the time. 😉

Lucky for me the first go around was a winner. I kept checking in on it to make sure it didn’t dry out, and that it would in fact be cooked all the way thru by the time we wanted to eat. That is the beauty about cooking a whole bird or slow cooker chicken and dumplings, you can check on it as often as you want.

I got this one in my Imperfect Foods box. With poultry I think there is a huge difference between organic and not. Without any growth hormone your bird will be smaller but with hardly any fat, the latter is the opposite. I’ll pay a bit more for no antibiotics used and a leaner bird for sure. JMO of course and you can choose what you wish.

That is just my two cents on that. I will say though that this one was 3.5 pounds and beyond 4 pounds it typically wouldn’t fit in a 6 or 7 quart pot. Mine is 7 as you see here and there wasn’t much wiggle room. That is important to remember because with it being rock hard you can’t shimmy it around at all.

How to cook frozen whole chicken

I used the same method as if it were defrosted beforehand because that always works out so well. You don’t want it to sit on the bottom of the Crock in the liquid beneath. If you do that side will get kinda’ mushy and ewwwww. Instead, use a few Crockpot baked potatoes as a trivet of sorts, then you can enjoy those with your meal as a bonus!

I had russets on hand but red would work just as well. When done they’re tender and delicious soaking up a bit of the chicken broth you used below, and the drippings from when you’re meat cooks.

Now let’s talk about chicken seasonings. You could certainly buy a dry rub at the store already made or use what you usually would; salt, pepper, garlic powder etc. You cannot add it at first, because it wouldn’t stick. Instead, just wait until halfway through and then sprinkle it on. Works like a charm.

Finish cooking and then you can crisp it under your broiler if you want crispy chicken skin.

Now that we have gone through a few of the basic tips you can read a quick step by step here. I do highly suggest you throw it in your oven at the end but that is up to you. I don’t even transfer it out of the Crock, I just throw the whole thing right in using pot holders. Here’s how to cook frozen chicken if it is left whole;

How long to cook a frozen chicken in a slow cooker

• Pour broth into your pot. Wash potatoes and sit in the middle to use as a “trivet”. Sprinkle them with sea salt to season. Sprinkle sliced onion around them.
• Unwrap frozen whole chicken. If wrapper is stuck, run it under warm water for 1 minute and it will loosen right up.
  • Place chicken in the Crock right on top of your taters with breast facing down if you won’t broil at the end, or on top if you are.
• Cover and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours cooking time (for 3.5-4 pound chicken, much larger may take longer to reach safe internal temp.
  • It needs to reach 165 degrees F in the thickest part
• Open lid halfway through and sprinkle on your seasonings of choice to add flavor, at that point they will stick to the skin.
  • check internal meat temperature in middle of chicken breast to ensure it is at 165+ F.
  • should be falling off the bone when you gently pull on the leg with clear juices
• If you want to crisp skin at the end, set your oven to broil high and spray the top of your chicken with olive oil. Remove the inner pot of your slow cooker and stick it right into your oven for 4 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove from oven.

Sit bird on a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Note: This didn’t have a bag inserted inside with the neck and/or gizzards. If yours does I would remove that before freezing.

You can see how I just threw the insert right inside to crisp. Yes it is oven safe so no need to dirty another pan. Now if you never use your broiler just know that it works quickly! I’m talking one extra minute and the top might be completely black so keep an eye on it. 3-4 minutes was perfect for this baby.

This is the best way to cook a whole chicken. Note: do NOT cook any hours on high. When you cook on high it will be very dried out this way. It needs to be on low period. There really isn’t a huge difference in time than with a thawed easy chicken recipe, maybe an hour difference.

Make sense? Give this and some of our other Crock pot chicken recipes a whirl this week. Finding yourself in this spot more often than not but want to bake it next? Try our whole frozen chicken in oven next. Let us know what you think and what your favorite side dishes with it have been.

What to do with leftovers

Now if you don’t finish it all, please use one of our leftover chicken recipes the next day. I just hate the idea of wasting great tasting moist meat.